Dawn and Dusk
by Pearl484
Summary: When two unusual meta-humans team up and begin to cause trouble, the team is forced to deal with them. Of course, things are never simple, and when you add some complications in the mix, the team starts to wonder...why would those two team up in the first place?
1. Dawn's Deal

Dawn

I was just walking on the sidewalk. I wasn't bothering anyone. I hadn't done anything wrong; I hadn't even stolen a knick-knack. So, why was I standing face-to-face with the emperor? No, _Aiden_, he didn't have any power here…except for his powers. Ugh.

I turned around as soon as I saw him. Nope, I was doing just fine on my own. Things were already complicated enough without adding him to the mess.

Of course, when I turned around, Aiden was right in front of me. I didn't even bother trying to figure out how he did that without super-speed.

Aiden, being Aiden, didn't seem to realize that I was angry at him or maybe he just didn't care. Either way his just stood there, with a creepy blank face.

Then he said, "I need your help."

I was this close to throwing him 500 feet in the air and just leaving him there. He'd live. He always lived.

But I didn't. I just walked away. No trouble. No drama. No problems. I'd just leave him behind and deal.

"I don't wanna die. I want someone to care if I...die. I want to have made a difference, done something, said something. Please, I wanna live."

I took another steo. Don't do it. Don't look back. Don't turn around. He ruined my life, He terrorized my home. He hunted me down. Don't turn around.

I turned around. Damn it. Even if I turned around right now and left, Aiden would have seen that I was vulnerable, weak. He'd never give up, at least not until he was beyond help.

I sighed and asked, "What do you want?" Aiden's face lit up lit a Christmas tree.

"It's simple really. We work together in order to help solve our problems."

I listened to his offer. Then I took his hand. Really, the deal was too good to refuse.


	2. Ivy's Encounter

Poison Ivy

I had been trying to avoid being a criminal for a week, now. It had probably been one of the hardest weeks of my life, what with Batman constantly looking over my shoulder and some of the pigs that constantly came into my flower shop. Still, I had been convinced that this time I would actually do it. I would actually be free of a life of crime forever.

I came _this_ close to breaking my streak when I saw that my greenhouse had been broken into by thugs and were letting the cold air freeze my babies. I walked into the greenhouse and closed the door behind me. I heard someone muttering something on the other side

They were still there. I stormed all the way to where I heard the murmuring and saw a teenage boy leaning over a teenage girl with a poisonous plant right over her face, forcing her to breathe in its fumes. I moved closer and saw that the girl was unconscious.

I wasn't sure which to be angrier about, the fact that he had been freezing my babies or the fact that he had deliberately hurt one of them for his own personal gain. I decided to be angry about both.

I lashed out, my babies grew to enormous proportions and hurtled at the boy, knocking him down and sending him flying. Then my babies were pushed back, like something was wrestling them away from the boy.

I saw the boy's smug smile and I soon realized why. He was pushing the back, forcing them to twist on themselves, hurting them. I had two of my babies sneak around into the boy's blind spot while the others distracted him. I had them poised just right to take the boy out right then and there.

"Is that a ghost orchid? I thought they were endangered! How did you get one?"

The boy and I simultaneously turned to stare at the girl and asked, "What?"

The girl shrugged and pointed at one of my ghost orchids. I nodded. The girl seemed finally to realize that she'd interrupted something. Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Look, I know that my…_brother…_is an insensitive, self-centered, power-hungry jerk that wouldn't know compassion even if it walked right up to him and said 'hi, my name's compassion', and I'd love to see you pound his face into the dirt, but I need him to help me with something so I need him to be able to walk around and not be dead…or brain-dead. Please…could you just let him go? I'm trying to keep him out of trouble. I promise I'll do my best to keep him out of your…greenhouse?"

I glared at the boy for a little while longer, but I remembered that I was trying to stay on the right side of the law. Killing a child wasn't the best way to do that. Reluctantly, I backed off, and the boy had enough decency to look ashamed as his sister glared at him.

The two walked out of the greenhouse, and the girl, thankfully, closed the door behind her. Then the girl paused as if remembering something and wandered back inside.

"Hey, are you good with plants?" I smiled.

"Is The Riddler good with riddles?" The girl gave me a blank look.

"Who's The Riddler?"


	3. Riddler's Visitors

Riddler

Knock. Knock. Knock. I ignored it. No one knocked at my door, at least not anyone I knew. If I didn't answer they might get discouraged and walk away.

Knock. Knock. Knock. I kept on ignoring it. I heard some mumbling, maybe an argument. Hopefully, it was a sign they would get the message and leave.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK. Or maybe whoever it was would take it take I couldn't hear them. I sighed there was no way I would be able to put the finishing touches on my riddles with that racket going on.

I heard a girl's voice say, "Mrs. Isley said that the Riddler was a genius that loved riddles. Maybe he can solve this one."

A boy voice responded, "She said he was a _criminal_ genius. Do you know what that means? He uses his genius to commit _crimes_. He's a _bad_ guy."

"Are you saying that _all_ criminals are bad guys? Please, enlighten me on _exactly_ what the meaning of the word bad is. Is it-?"

"I don't want to get into-"

I wrenched the door open to see a teenage boy and a teenage girl standing face to face with each other. The girl seemed angry or even offended. The boy seemed to be resigned. Maybe the two had had the same argument before.

The girl gave the boy a glare before she turned to me and from the look on her face didn't see the anger on my face or maybe she didn't care.

"Are you the Riddler?"

"Yes…"

"And you're good at riddles?"

"Better than you."

"Okay…I have a riddle. If time cures everything, what is the cure for a disease caused by time?"

"Death."

The girl blinked. Obviously, this was not the answer she was expecting.

"Seriously, that's the answer? Death? I was hoping you'd be more original. Oh well, I'll find the answer somewhere else."

"Death is the cure for everything."

The boy scoffed and said, "See? I told you he couldn't help."

The girl glared at him again. Obviously, those two had issues. Were they a couple previously? That would explain the tension, but the way the girl looked at the boy, it was familiar…

The girl pushed me out of my thoughts. "Thanks for the help. It was a view we hadn't thought of, even if it wasn't what we'd hoped. I appreciate it."

I watched them walk down the hallway and to the stairwell. I kept trying to place where I'd seen the look on the girl's face before. It wasn't until the two were long gone that I remembered where I'd seen it. It was the same look Batman gave me when I'd once held Robin. It was a look of pure vengeance.


	4. Dusk's Incident

Dusk

Dawn was trying to pry a few wooden boards off an abandoned warehouse. I heard the rotten wood shred, again. I heard another groan. Then I heard the sound of wood being crushed into a pulpy mess.

Dawn started grumbling. "Stupid, rotten, soggy wood. This'll leave behind a trace for sure. It'll be all too easy to tell someone's broken in. Someone will see it and decide to look into it. Maybe it'll be a police officer, or a-"

"Dawn, stop worrying everything will be _fine_. You'll see." Dawn immediately stopped ripping apart the wood and stared at me with eyes as wide as saucers.

"Did you remember anything from those lessons _at all_?"

I stared at her for a moment until she turned back to tearing the wood off like wet toilet paper. Mulch piled underneath the boards, or rather the remains of the boards until the door could finally be pried open.

"Dawn, this is breaking and entering. It's a crime. Are you sure that this is absolutely necessary?"

"This is where I woke up. Maybe if I go here, I'll remember something else."

"And if you don't?"

"I don't see _you_ coming up with any ideas."

Dawn didn't even wait for a response and took a crowbar from who knows where and jammed it into a narrow crack. It took a moment, but the door was forced open.

Dawn walked over to a crate that was open at the top. She stared at it for a moment. Then she turned around and stared at something.

Suddenly, she stood just a little taller and climbed out a nearby window and ran into an alley. I ran after her. There was no telling what she'd do.

Dawn was just standing there looking around. Then she stared at some place in the distance. She started walking towards whatever she was looking at. Then she collapsed in the middle of the street.

Damn it. I ran to her, grabbed her, and dragged her out of the street. Dawn didn't even move. I put a mirror in front of her mouth, and it fogged up. I rolled her over, checking for any darts or blood. Not that I thought that there would be any, but better safe than sorry.

Dawn opened her eyes and groaned. I waited for her to attack me or yell at me or give me a blank look. Instead, she just sighed and sat up. She took my hand and used it to pull herself up.

She started to walk again, straight into a guy wearing a lot of black and gray. He looked at her. Then he looked at me. I almost peed myself.

The giant gave Dawn a death glare and growled, "You again. Who's your friend?"

Dawn immediately backed away. I gave her a look, silently asking her who this guy was. The look in her eyes clearly said 'I have absolutely no idea who this guy is'. Yikes.

Big, Mean, and Scary grabbed Dawn by the wrist, pulling her close to put handcuffs on her. Wait…handcuffs? Oh no.

Before I could say anything, Dawn moved and smashed her knee into the guy's head, probably breaking 50 laws of physics. Then, when the man's grip loosened, she twisted her entire body and was about 10 feet away from him in a second, _without using her powers. _

She grabbed my wrist and dragged me away from whoever that guy was. I could practically smell her panic and paranoia. If she didn't calm down _right now_, she'd drag us both into hyper-time.

All of a sudden, a boy in a bright-colored outfit landed right in front of us.

Damn it.


	5. Robin's Chase

Robin

Batman had chased down two thieves right by one of the Joker's warehouses. He had slipped right in front of one of the thieves, and had been literally walked into. He started to arrest one of the thieves. Then the thief had kneed Batman in the head, slipped out of his grasp, and had started to run, dragging her partner behind her.

It took a moment, but I finally caught up to those two. I jumped down to stop them, intending the stop the two with a bird-a-rang. Unfortunately, the girl was faster than I thought, and she jumped over me, using my shoulder as a springboard. What the-

The thieves rolled with the impact, and the boy was scowling. Guess the landing wasn't soft. The boy was also favoring his left leg. The girl was dragging the boy even more.

This was not going to end well. Not for them at least.

I decided to end this quickly and threw another bird-a-rang at them. The girl was tripped and was sent tumbling head over heels. The boy was thrown about 10 feet and landed with a grunt. I quickly handcuffed the boy and the girl, who strangely didn't resist, at all.

Batman was suddenly right there. The boy looked terrified. The girl just sat there.

The boy suddenly turned around and stared at me. "Dusk and Dawn."

"What?"

The boy sighed and said, "Our names are Dusk and Dawn. I'm Dusk. She's Dawn. I don't like you calling us the boy and the girl. And would you kindly tell your mindless brute to back off?"

Batman and I glared at Dusk. Dusk however saw this only as an encouragement.

"I've had enough of this. First, you try to arrest Dawn, who you have no proof that she did anything wrong. Next, you seem surprised when she tries to defend herself. Then I get dragged down the street by a girl that was panicking. Then you get the _brilliant_ idea to startle her, triggering the fight or flight response. Dawn jumps over you and accidently lands on me. Finally, you throw a sharp-edged boomerang at us and handcuff us. What is wrong with you?"

Seriously? He's handcuffed and defenseless, and _now_ he wants to insult us? Didn't Dusk realize how much trouble he was in right now? Or was he that stupid?

Then I realized something. He _wanted_ us to attack him. He had something up his sleeve and if we attacked him, he'd have some sort of advantage. It might not be all that great, but when a criminal suddenly decides that he can beat you, chances are, you should take it seriously.

There was a moment when nothing happened. It seemed like everything was holding its breath, as if waiting for the challenge to be met. Then there were two faint clicks, and things went downhill from there.


	6. Dawn's Escape

Dawn

Dusk takes a long time to get out of handcuffs. Seriously, I had been waiting for about five minutes for him to get the handcuffs off. He was supposed to be the world's strongest psychic or whatever, and it took in _5_ minutes to get a simple pair of handcuffs off. How did he even-

No. Now is not the time for a rant. Dusk just got finished talking to Mr. Scary and Mr. Scary Jr. Probably should have listened to that conversation. Please, please, please tell me that Dusk didn't make them angry.

Oh who am I kidding? I should run.

I heard two clicks as I sprung towards Sir Shady. Huh. Perfect timing.

I barely saw a darkish streak race past in my peripheral vision before I saw a flash of silver. I ducked just enough for it to pass over me. Was that a stick? I jumped to avoid whatever it was that he was trying to hit me with. That was definitely a stick. He was trying to hit me with a metal stick. And he was winning. Of course.

Okay, I couldn't use my powers. I only had a few self-defense classes that my _real_ brother taught me (just in case). So…how could I win?

First things first, list advantages. I had a psychic on my side. I was a natural at evading attacks. I knew self-defense. I was good at getting away.

Next, list the disadvantages. I was out-matched. My psychic ally isn't at top-shape. I can't use my powers. I had almost no idea where I'm at.

I was missing something. What was it…?

Analysis! I was missing analysis. Okay. Let's see. Those two dressed up in dark clothes. They probably worked at night, a lot. The way they moved was familiar… No noise. They weren't making any noise. Sure, they talked, but when they walked, there wasn't a sound. Those capes, capes are made to be a grand gesture. Those belts, they probably weren't on there for a fashion show.

Okay, they didn't have any powers. …They didn't have any powers and lived in the same city as Mrs. Isley, who had the powers to control plants. Not good.

I saw the stick swing at me again. I used it to jump over its owner's shoulder, and I hit the ground running. I jumped over a wall that was bigger than me in a single leap. Adrenaline, pure adrenaline. Amazing stuff. Now I could jump over walls like it was nothing and not feel any pain. Yay!

My thoughts were pretty much limited too: Can't look behind me. They might still be following me. Gotta lose them. Turn here to go to where I need to go.

Finally, I lost them. I almost dislocated my shoulder doing it, but I lost them. Thank goodness I was still running on adrenaline because my shoulder would be in pain because of this. I waited for Dusk to come back.

When he finally did, I managed to ask him to help me get to the top of a building without thinking about killing him. I was so proud, even if it was because I was too distracted by my now aching shoulder.

* * *

A few hours later

You know what. I really wished my shoulder was distracting me. I take back every cruel thing I said about it, every complaint, every whine, every grumble, every scolding, everything.

I remembered why I was here in this city. I remembered how I got here. I remember who brought me here. I remembered. I hated remembering.

Dusk came up to and asked, "Remember anything we need?" I shook my head.

Dusk put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't worry. We'll figure something out."


	7. Kid Flash's Capture

Kid Flash

All it took was one boy to stop the entire parade, one boy who was around ten. _Klarion _looked older than him. It was like every day the world decided "Hey, I need a disaster of some sort. I'm bored".

I was watching this nice parade with Barry, and suddenly, a little boy with dark hair and the creepiest eyes I'd ever seen was up on a float in a cloud of smoke. At first, I thought it was just another trick that the parade people had set up, but then I saw that they were just as surprised as I was. We are so going to feel the mode.

5 minutes later, I'm chasing down an extremely powerful telekinetic that tore up an entire city block in 7 seconds. Every other second seems to be me having to save some poor citizen that got thrown into a transformer or from being crushed by anything that could possibly be in a city. How am I-

Where did he find a _tank_? Did some super rich grandpa from the military decide to leave a tank parked in front of the theater or something? Sure, sweetie, I'll take you to see a play. Just let grandpa park his huge, unnecessary, and extremely slow tank.

After I dodged the tank, I started to chase the telekinetic again, but I couldn't find him. It took about ½ a second to find him and now he's gone? Most people don't move like that. He had to be somewhere nearby.

I looked around the street until I saw a building with all of the rubble pushed away from the entrance. This was too easy.

I walked in to see a little girl strapped to a bomb wearing a blindfold and a gag. The telekinetic was right beside her, talking to her. She squirmed a little, but from the way she did, her hands and feet had to be tied behind her back, and her body was tied to the thick pole she was sitting in front of.

I dashed towards the girl to untie her, only to watch her spit out the gag and ask, "Can I get out now?" What?

The telekinetic nodded and the girl did…something and suddenly her hands and feet were free, and she was untying her body. I heard something move and the wall near the entrance caved in. I am definitely feeling the mode.

I felt something inside my head, and the world faded to black.

* * *

"Wake up. C'mon. Wake up! Please wake up...WAKE UP! Oh, good. You're up."

I groaned as the silhouette of someone standing over me became the girl. My head throbbed with pain.

The girl shined a flashlight in my eye and asked, "Are you alright?"

I nodded. Her flashlight thankfully disappeared. My eyes weren't being blinded anymore, and my head's throbbing was going away with every throb. Super healing, there's nothing like it.

I asked the first question that popped into my head. "Why?"

The girl shook her head, and tears came to her eyes.

"He promised he wouldn't…but he did…When I saw you like that, I freaked out. I…I threatened to kill him if…if he didn't stop…And I meant it… I had my knife in my hand…and I was ready to saw his throat open…and…and kill him…I…I dragged you here…I hope you don't mind…"

I looked around. This place was dark and damp and filthy, but I didn't want to make the poor girl cry again so I told her I didn't mind.

"I think I've got something for your headache. Umm…here." The poor girl held out two weird smelling pills and a weird looking water bottle.

"Keep 'em. I'm fine."

"You have a concussion. You know what that is right? Your brain is swelling. If that doesn't give you-"

"I'm fine. I'm a fast healer."

"No one heals _that_ fast."

"I do."

The girl looked at me for a minute then she held out her hand.

"Give me your hand." I looked at her for a minute and put my hand on hers. She pulled out a knife and gave cut me. I looked at her in surprise. I'd had bigger paper cuts, but she had deliberately cut me with a knife.

The look she had on her face when I healed was priceless though. Seriously, you'd think I'd sprouted into a tree by the look on her face.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. Any other person would say that's so cool or say that they wished they had could do that, but the poor girl looked horrified.

"You're a positive. And you have a natural healing ability…I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Why would you be sorry?"

"You've been tortured by psychos that love to cause pain and love victims that heal fast enough for them to hear you scream in agony again and again haven't you?"

"Um…no…?" The girl looked away as if she were embarrassed.

Then the girl straightened as if remembering something and said, "I've gotta go. Dusk is going to be worried sick…See you later…?"

The girl slipped her blindfold back on and climbed easily out of the opening that the light was coming from.

Well, that was weird.


	8. Cold's Bargain

Captain Cold

"So let me get this straight. You want me to help you after you destroyed Central City? As in you want me to help you after you destroyed, not just one building, or one block, or even one neighborhood, but the _entire_ downtown district?"

The boy nodded fiercely while the girl just wondered around, staring at random spots. I wondered if the girl was all there.

The boy frowned and said, "No, she's not. That's part of the problem. Look, I just need you to do a…heist for me and then we'll be on our merry way. Don't think of it as helping me. Think of it as helping yourselves…or stopping an extremely powerful psychic that was able to destroy "the entire downtown district" from rendering you completely use-"

The girl popped out of nowhere, holding my gun. If I hadn't been so used to the Flashes doing that, I would've had a heart attack.

"Your freeze ray, how does it work?" I snatched my "freeze ray" out of her hands.

I glared at her and asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"You'refreezerayworksbyslowingdownparticles,makingitanexcellentweaponagainst .Thefactthatyoumadethis thetownisfamousforareheroes,youprobablygotojail, 'twanttohelpisbecauseyoudon'twanttogotojailoryoujustdon' ,there'salotof 'thelpwithnotlikingDusk,butifIknowyourfreezeray'slimits,Icanhelpyounotgotojail. Wow that felt good."

Both the boy and I stared at the girl.

"I'd like to know what the freeze ray can do so I can help you make pull of a successful…heist. Seriously? Heist? Who even says heist anymore? Retired cops?"

I sighed and said, "Look, I'm not sure that I want you to plan-"

The girl skipped over to a map of Central City and said, "All right, let's see what I can do. Oh, this looks like a good spot. Security's down because _someone_ decided to become the human wreaking ball yesterday. Let's see…" The girl brought out a laptop from nowhere and started typing like a mad man.

I tried to stop her again. "Put the laptop-"

"GOT IT! Okay, the security's especially low at 3:10-3:20 am. A few calls and a few emails, and everyone will be clear. Done and done. There might be a few paranoid employees left, three tops, but I'm pretty sure you can manage. If I were you, I'd freeze this hallway, all of the windows, the vents, and, just to be safe, the cameras. I'd also freeze the doors in order to buy myself some time and be a pest, but that's just me. Unfortunatly, none of those morons were stupid enough to leave the combination to the safe on a computer, but hopefully you can crack it. So…are ya in?"

The girl held her hand out, and I shook it. Who knows, this could be the start of a wonderful friendship.


	9. Piper's Suggestion

Pied Piper

"You're not going to tell us where you went are you?"

Dawn didn't even look up from the papers she was reading to say, "A good thief can pull off a spectacular feat that everyone will talk about for years to come. A great thief can steal something amazing without a soul knowing."

I smiled and asked, "Who told you that?"

"Mr. Black. …Don't trade with him. He'll cheat you."

I tried to take a look at the notes, but all I saw were numbers and graphs. Dawn caught me looking and moved the papers out of my view, but not before my wandering eye spotted the logo of STAR Labs.

"So…what information did you want from STAR Labs?"

"Anything involving physics."

"Because…?"

"I'm trying to figure out time-travel."

I looked at her straight in the eyes, or in the blindfold anyway, and said, "Time travel is some very dangerous stuff."

Dawn looked at me like a world weary woman instead of the little girl she was and just said, "I know."

I thought about it for a moment. Then I said, "I think I know someone that might be able to help you. I'm not saying he can, but he _might_."

Dawn grinned like a Cheshire cat and said, "Piper, you're the best."


	10. Dusk's Reminder

Dusk

"Well, that didn't go well." Dawn looked at me and shrugged apologetically. It was a shame my powers hadn't recharged yet. That way, I'd just rip the information out of Alakazam, and we'd be on our merry way. Dawn would probably be upset, but she'd get over it. She always-

I stopped and said, "Wait a second, why are you so happy all of a sudden? You used to try to break into my castle every other week. Now you're all sunshine and lollipops."

Dawn started humming and answered lazily, "Power build up. Unlike positive charges, negative charges get a huge power up. That's why they go crazy. Their power builds up so much that they forget how to feel so they try to get near the only thing that makes them feel again, their positive charge."

I sighed and said, "You don't seem to be unfeeling."

"You remember that analogy that the human body is a machine? Well, my powers are discharging and giving me a ton of energy. And you wanna know something? It feels good, like I can do anything in the world if I want to. My best bet is that it's a defense mechanism of sorts in case I get captured, like the feeling of pleasure to mask the pain. If I try to dig underneath it, I can feel my powers curling on themselves burning into an inferno. You can probably imagine why I don't push away this…this giggly persona."

"Giggly persona?"

"I don't make fun of you for your vocabulary. Don't make fun of mine."

"What is so weird about my vocabulary? Please, enlighten me, oh wise one."

Dawn cleared her throat and gave a terrible impression of a scientist as she said, "Sister, you and I are not so different. … Oh, really? Well, I suppose if you believe me to be such a terrible ruler then why, pray tell, have you not tried to dethrone me? ... Ah. I suppose I can be of use. There is a lair used by a man by the name of John Lucas. … Do you not recognize that name? He was quite the inventor, a rather famous one. He's dead. I'd say it was unfortunate, but he was not a nice man by any stretch of the imagination. If there were any record of the boy you were looking for, it'd be there. It might be outdated, but Lucas had an obsession of listing weaknesses. Seeing that the person you are looking for was born in a lab, it is possible that he has a tracker of some sort. … Why should you trust me? Why, my dear sister, I desire to meet you in person. Of course, you must earn that meeting. I believe that this method is the fastest way."

"I don't see how that proves-"

Dawn started again, "My dear sister, why are you so upset? … There could be worse fates such as actually being what they created you to be. I 'm sorry that you were subjected to the information that way. Unfortunately, it was the easiest way to break it to you. …You have been placed on suicide watch? I thought that you'd be able to handle it. I would not have revealed your origin, our origins, if I did not think you could handle it. Listen to me, whatever those chaotic vigilante friends of yours say, you choose your own destiny. You are free. You have been purged of your creator's influence just as I have. I know it may not seem like much, but you are welcome to talk to me anytime you like. I understand more than your friends ever will. … Why? Look, I may not be related to you by blood or relation, but there's a reason that I call you my sister. Our lives are the same, mirror images of each other. We are two sides of the same coin."

I made a grunt of frustration and said, "That still doesn't explain why you think my vocab- Wait. Did you memorize my talks word for word?"

"Just those two. It was hard not to memorize them. The first one was the one that you used to trick me into going into John Lucas's lair and tricked me into figuring out that I was designed to be one of the villains' children. The second one was the first time that you were actually helpful. It was the first time I looked and you and felt something other than disgust and loathing." Dawn was messing with something, probably trying to drown out this conversation.

"Dawn, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I-I'm fine." Dawn looked away from me and sat down on a bench, becoming "fascinated" by whatever she was holding. A coping mechanism. Damn it.

I pulled the thingamabob (was it a puzzle?) away from Dawn's fingers. Dawn looked up at me, glaring.

I sat down beside Dawn and said, "It's going to be alright. We're going to fix our little problem, and everything will be fine. I promise."

"How? How in the heck are we supposed to fix our problem? I can't stay conscious for more than 3 hours. You can't be over 30 feet away from me. Both of our powers are not doing what they want them to. And I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Dawn made a frustrated noise.

I tried to come up with something, anything, to cheer her up. I spotted a newspaper. _Justice League Stops Monster. _Perfect.

"Hey, I know what we can do. The Justice League is a group of heroes, right?"

Dawn looked at my warily and nodded slowly.

"Well, it seems like it's a pretty group from that picture."

Dawn raised an eyebrow and motioned with her hand to go on.

"Big groups like those have to have paperwork or at least someone that keeps records, especially heroes. You remember the downfalls of being a Vigil don't you?"

Dawn nodded and said, "Yeah, I remember. What does that have anything to do with- Of course! Those records would have to be easily accessible and very detailed. Of course there would probably be things like bio-scans and voice- Wait, are we going to try to hack into the Justice League's database? Last I heard, it was in space, and they have a man named Lex Luthor as an enemy that's a technological genius. I doubt that you can hack into it from the ground."

I smiled and said, "But all the heroes live on the ground. My best guess is that there's one hero that has the files on the ground."

"So we find out all the members of the Justice League and follow each one of them until we find the paranoid one?"

I nodded.

Dawn smiled and said, "Let's go then. Time's a wasting."


	11. Dawn's Search

Dawn

I watched Green Arrow take a guy with steroids out with a boxing glove. Again. After hearing him may a snarky comment for the 20th time, I was done. Yes, he was an impressive shot. Yes, sometimes he was funny. Yes, sometimes his trick arrows were cool, but he was getting on my nerves.

Hmm. Green Arrow had a sniper personality: cocky, arrogant, and competitive. He wouldn't keep files unless he had to. Definitely not who I needed.

I sighed and nudged Dusk awake. It was almost cute watching him sleep or tempting, _very _tempting. Just a slice with my knife…

What was I thinking? I'd never be able to go through with it. No matter how much I hated the guy. I'd probably miss him by two inches again and again until I finally gave up, then my guilt would start to eat me alive. Stupid conscience.

Dusk mumbled something and stood up. He looked kinda out of it so I pulled him to a bus stop. While we waited for a bus to arrive, he started leaning on me. No matter how many times I pushed him off of me, he kept on drooling on top of my shoulder.

Finally, the bus came. I grabbed Dusk and pushed him into the bus and made sure he got a window seat. Next stop, Metropolis.

* * *

4 hours later

After 2 hours of careful observation, I had come to a calculated and thought out conclusion. I didn't like Superman. He smelled like that weak sunlight that tries to wake you up in the morning after a bad flu. That kind of sunlight was my least favorite.

Of course, Dusk _loved_ him. I heard him cheer along with the rest of the crowd when Superman blew himself up getting rid of a bomb. Dusk smiled when he saw Superman posing for pictures, and I swear I saw Dusk getting an autograph.

* * *

1 hour later

I think I now know why I don't like Superman. He's suicidal. There is no possible way on earth that he needed to be blown up 3 times while dealing with a bomb, almost killed by a green rock, shot at hundreds of times, and almost drained completely of life in 3 hours. I don't care how indestructible he is. Superman has to be suicidal.

Even if he's not, Superman does not have the files. He's too open, too honest. I'm gonna have to look somewhere else.

I started to leave and turned around to see that Dusk was still watching Superman. I rolled my eyes and grabbed Dusk's arm to pull him away.

I heard this boom from behind and I turned around to see Superman had been blown up again and was falling towards the ground. It seemed interesting, but I just couldn't stay focused on it.

Suddenly, it came to me, the debris. Superman would survive his landing. The debris might hurt someone.

My mind started to calculate the speed of the fall using approximate measurements while I raced around like a lunatic jumping and catching debris while shoving people out of the danger zone. My mind seemed to split into two. One side was calculating the speed of the debris and how to compensate. The other side was trying to slow down the world. For a moment, it was perfect, the debris was easy to catch, and the people were easy to push. Of course I had to get cut by some debris. Thank you, fortune, for always making my day worse.

I tried to stop my squirming until after all of the debris had been caught, but I couldn't. My stupid, impulsive self just wouldn't block out the pain.

Superman finally noticed the debris and started to catch it, swooping around causing the wind to blind me with dust as he saved the day. I closed my eyes and repeated _He's just helping. He's just helping_ over and over in my head.

After everything was done, I got up went to find Dusk. I felt a little dizzy, but it couldn't be that bad.

When I finally found Dusk, I poked him on the shoulder. He stared at me. For a second, I thought he'd seen my bloody sleeve.

Then he said, "You need a bath." I need a bath? Why would I need a b-? Right. The dust and the wind are probably not the neatest things in the world. Thank you, fortune, for helping me dodge that bullet.

As we walked to the bus stop, I kept on feeling the world trying to twist over on its side. Dang it.

I turned to Dusk and said, "I have to go to the bathroom. Wait here."

I walked to the bathroom, stumbling a little bit. I spotted the bathroom door. Yes. I pushed open the door and pulled out some iodine and some bandages. This would not be pleasant.

I won't describe how I tried to patch myself up (and probably did a terrible job). I'm ashamed to say that I'm a little embarrassed about how I handled it. I wasn't exactly the world's toughest girl during it.

After I put the bandage on tightly and cleaned off my shirt, I left the bathroom and tried my best to be nonchalant. I walked to Dusk and started walking with him to a bus stop. My nonchalance must have been decent because Dusk didn't even give me a second glance.

The bus arrived after what seemed like hours and I made sure to get a window seat. Next stop: Central City.

* * *

1 hour later

I have seen Kid Flash 20 something times and not even a glimpse of Flash. Is he dead? Is he in a coma? Maybe he's been trapped by another speed-user in hyper-stasis at a rate of one minute per year. …What? It happens.

Maybe I should just ask Kid Flash. I mean, the Flash is his dad so he should know if Flash keeps records. Although they could be brothers…the "Kid" in Kid Flash implies that.

I yelled, "Hey, Kid!" All of a sudden, Kid Flash was right in front of me before I could blink. Huh. So that's what that feels like. Who knew?

"I just wanted to know…what'syourdadlike?"

Kid Flash just looked at me and said, "What's my dad li- ? Oh, you mean Flash. Flash is a really nice guy. He took me in even when he didn't have to. Why?"

"I'm trying to figure out which person in the Justice League keeps records."

"Hmm. That would be Batman. If you wanna steal the records though, I wouldn't. Batman might not have any powers, but he could probably catch you before you even got in the Batcave."

Batman? As in Tall, Dark, and Lonely? Dang it.

Time travel…Batman. Time Travel…Batman. Time Travel…Batman. Time Travel it is. I'm gonna regret this.

I smiled and said, "Thanks, Kid Flash. You're the best." Kid Flash waved and dashed off. Ah, such a nice guy.

I turned to Dusk and said, "We've gotta go to Gotham to face Mr. Dark again." Dusk groaned.

* * *

8 hours later

Dusk offered me a smile and said, "Relax. Just consider it as an initiation to be a Shadow. It's the ultimate test of stealth. You're going to tail a master of stealth, infiltrate his base, and steal precious information from him. Oh and if you get caught, he'll kill you."

I took a moment to glare at Dusk before I went to follow Batman. I made sure I stayed far enough away from he that he could see me, and close enough that if I really tried, I could see him. Not the easiest thing to do, especially when you're trying to follow a guy that travels by rooftops.

When he wasn't fighting, he was sitting and staring at some building or fighting some bad guys. Watching him stare at buildings wasn't the greatest thing in the world, but watching him fight…wow, just wow. No wonder he scared the living daylights out of people.

I watched Batman beat up these guys that were scaring a little girl. It was amazing as usual, but after the fight, Batman made sure the little girl was okay. It almost made tears come to my eyes. Maybe…maybe if things hadn't gone so wrong, things like that would happen more often.

I pushed my emotions away and took a mental picture. I'd deal with it later. I watched Batman go back to the rooftops. I started climbing after him. I don't know what he used to launch himself up to his home, but it was spec.

I followed him for hours (What was this guy? A tank?) until finally he decided to go home. I followed his car until it came to a wall and almost ran into it until it opened up. I zoomed after him and hid in the car's shadow.

I waited until Batman left the cave to get to his huge computer. I inserted a copy of Molly, my super-virus sorta, to gather the information for me quickly. After a few seconds, Molly had gotten the files and decrypted them. I love Molly.

I pulled the information onto a flash drive and started to walk out the way I came. Home fr- I felt my body crumble to the ground. No no no. Darkiness swept over me like a wave. Dang it. So close.


End file.
